That Day
by Varishi
Summary: It's the anniversary of Robin's parents' murders, and Batman is making him go to the Cave in Happy Harbour. The last thing Robin wants right now, but maybe his friends are what he needs right now. Is his past back to haunt him? DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of Young Justice.
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't know, I just felt like writing this.**_

_**Do go ahead and enjoy though! ;)**_

_**Varishi x**_

It was _that_ day – the day that Robin hated the most out of every day in the year, because it was the day that he had lost everything that he cared about. Five years ago today, Robin's parents were murdered: but it wasn't only them that he had lost. He had lost his life at the circus and all of his friends. It wasn't only today that haunted him every year, in the weeks leading up to this day he was either overcome with insomnia or tortured in a restless sleep by nightmares. But through those weeks, it was almost easy to keep up the usual front of playfulness and keep his cool on missions.

But on this actual day, Robin was _always_ overcome with guilt and sadness. That, partnered with an inability to sleep, made him altogether 'unfit for public consumption' today. Bruce always understood, after all on the anniversary of his own parent's deaths he was always in a similar mood even after all of the time that had passed. This year, however, was different. An escape from Arkham Asylum, courtesy of The Riddler, meant that both Alfred and Bruce would be otherwise engaged than supporting Richard Grayson through this unbearable day. So instead, Batman thought that the best place for Robin to be would be with his friends in Happy Harbour.

"Listen," Bruce said to Robin before pulling his cowl over his face sheepishly. He never was good at conveying emotions or even showing that he understood them, but Robin had learned to read him well, "I know today is hard. But this is important; people could get hurt if I let Riddler run around Gotham unchecked."

It hurt Bruce to watch his ward's blue eyes become so blank and devoid of all hope, but he didn't know what words he should use to console him. Robin put his dark shades on, just in time to hide from his mentor the tears that welled up in his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and collected himself before answering Batman, "I know, don't worry about it Batman, this is important." Robin spoke barely above a whisper. Any louder than that and there would be a clearly audible wobble in his voice and he didn't want Batman to recognise his moment of weakness. There was a voice in Robin's mind that was telling him, _Bruce thinks the Riddler is more important than you. He doesn't want to waste his time talking to some depressed circus freak._ And frankly, Robin couldn't argue with that voice because he believed it to be true.

Bruce could so clearly see that the boy was at war with himself in his mind, but as Alfred had told him earlier, Robin had every right to be upset on such a day as it was. Without another word to one another, Batman left with Robin clad in his civilian attire. The dark knight accompanied Robin to the zeta tubes in Gotham before leaving him to track down the Riddler with Alfred's directions on the other side of his communicator.

As he watched his mentor run away from him, Robin felt the hole in his heart tear a little bigger and he allowed one tear to escape his eye as he stared straight at the zeta tubes. _Why couldn't he hang up his cape just for today?_ Robin asked himself before wiping away the stray tear in anger and stepping into the 'phone booth' and allowing the machine to recognise him. In a flash of bright light, Robin was uncomfortably taken from Gotham to be transported to the Cave in Happy Harbour where he hoped above all, everyone would leave him alone. But of course that wouldn't be the case – this _was_ the Young Justice team after all.

The zeta machine announced Robin's arrival and with that Kid Flash's head whipped up. Robin _never_ came in on this day. To the others, Robin's arrival was no great event, but to Kid Flash – who knew Robin's whole back story – the arrival was such a shock that he fell off of the sofa that he had been lounging on and proceeded to poke his head over its back and fix his eyes on his best friend. He thought that Robin might have forgotten what day it was, but as he appeared out of the tubes, his depressed slouch was the only clue Wally needed to realise that he hadn't forgotten at all. Trying, and failing, to swallow his mouthful of cake, Wally greeted the little ninja in a confused manner, "Rob?"

At Wally's acknowledgement, the rest of the Team noticed and smiled at Robin as he entered the room with a stoic look on his face. But that was the first indicator that something was wrong to the Team; it was Batman's job to be stoic and Robin usually always entered with a smile. Even though Robin was still walking the distance between the zetas and the living space, M'Gann was beginning to feel uncomfortable that Robin had not yet said anything. So she decided to break the silence, "Good morning, Robin. How are you?"

Robin wanted to tell her that it was _not_ a good morning and that he was _not _okay. But then follow up questions would happen, and he wasn't in the right state of mind to deal with those. Wally was looking at him with a sympathetic look on his face, he knew that Robin was not okay and had winced when M'Gann had asked him how he was. After a brief battle with the tears that wanted to roll down his face, Robin composed himself once again and responded in what he had thought to be a normal voice, "Hi. I'm fine. I'm going to the gym."

Robin had meant his voice to sound normal, but it had come out harsh – almost sarcastic. He had even felt his eyes narrow behind his glasses in frustration at the question. So, cursing at himself for being so obvious, Robin turned his back on the astonished faces watching him and briskly stormed away to the training room where he hoped to work out his feelings into a punching bag. He could feel his teammate's eyes on his back as he walked out of the room and the moment they heard a door slam the worried inquiries began.

"Did I say something wrong?" M'Gann wondered aloud in a voice that seemed more confused than upset. Wally dipped his head so that he was staring at the ground; M'Gann_ had_ said something wrong, but how was she to know that? Kaldur and Connor seemed equally as confused as M'Gann was, one of them being from the ocean and the other only alive for a short time after all. Only Artemis and Wally could really understand human feelings other than Robin himself, and so Connor, Kaldur and M'Gann turned to the two of them for answers.

"You didn't say anything wrong, M'Gann. If you ask me, Robin's just being rude." Artemis responded glaring at the door that Robin had just left through. She had always respected his skill and constant optimism, but just then she had seen another side to him and it was a side that she didn't like. M'Gann tilted her head to the side a little as she considered Artemis' answer, Robin had never been 'rude' before – cheeky, yes, but never rude exactly – so it seemed irrational that he should start now. Connor looked as though he didn't follow and Kaldur simply grew more worried for his youngest comrade. Wally however, reacted in a totally different way.

"He's not being rude!" Wally snapped. But after the looks the others gave him he instantly regretted his intervention. It was just that he couldn't stand anyone talking badly of Robin in front of him, on any day let alone this one. Instead of just leaving his comment alone, the speedster decided that he had better follow up with a sort of explanation, "He didn't mean to come across as rude, he's having a bad day."

"And how would you know that, Kid Idiot? Besides, that doesn't mean he can treat people however he wants." Artemis retorted spitefully. If Robin was being rude to someone as innocent as M'Gann, then he really didn't deserve defending. So what right did Wally have to cross her? Having a 'bad day' was no excuse for being anti-social. Wally stared back into Artemis' intense gaze and wished that he could tell her everything. She would regret saying what she just had if she knew the whole story behind it. But it wasn't his place, and he had promised Robin all that time ago that he'd keep it all a secret.

So instead of telling Artemis everything, Wally just softened his voice and looked at the floor once again before saying in a voice barely audible to all but Connor, "Just – Just lay off him a little, okay? Today is a really bad day." The sincerity in Wally's voice was plenty to let the whole Team know that whatever it was that was bothering Robin today, it was something huge. Naturally, the Team demanded to know why today was so bad for Robin, but Wally's answer to each question always ended up being 'it's not my place'.

After what seemed like a life time of questioning, Kaldur finally demanded that everyone stop what they were doing. Instead he offered an alternative, "We are not doing Robin any good by talking amongst ourselves, we should see if he is alright." No one was able to argue with Kaldur's cool and collected thoughts, not even Wally. Kaldur seemed amused at how quickly an argument could be resolved between his teammates and then gestured for them all to follow him as he began to lead the way towards the gym where they all knew Robin would be.

In the mean time, the moment Robin had changed into his black training clothes and headed to the gym, he had envisioned Tony Zucco as the punching bag that waited in front of him. Then, pressing his lips together in a hard line and clenching his jaw in anger and hurt he had began to repeatedly hit the punching bag as hard as he could with his fists. He had kept up the assault for as long as he could manage, before his anger gave way to pure unbridled depression. He relaxed his raised arms and rested his head against the battered punching bag, his breaths coming hard and fast from his exertion. He began to relive that day _again_.

He could see Zucco and hear his threats, he could still hear so clearly that sickening snap as the trapeze wires supporting his family gave; he could see his mother's terrified face and hear the crowd's screams, his parent's screams, his own screams. Nothing had faded that memory over the years, and as much as he wanted those memories gone they were the ones that stuck around the most. He could have stopped his parents from performing that night, and then he would still have parents. He could have at least checked the equipment again. He could have done _something _but he had done nothing. Robin had been constantly told by Bruce that he wasn't responsible for what had happened that day, but if he wasn't then why did he feel like he was?

It was then that the Team entered the gym, interrupting the young acrobat's troubled thoughts. Almost as soon as M'Gann saw Robin she was knocked back as though punched into Connor's startled arms as she felt the magnitude of the self-loathing and guilt rolling off of Robin in powerful waves. Tears sprang to M'Gann's eyes from the sheer rawness of Robin's feelings. Robin himself had picked up his head from the punching bag and was staring at his team evenly, trying desperately hard to maintain his casual exterior.

"Robin, what is making you feel this way?" M'Gann asked tearfully. She felt Robin's feelings flare ten times more powerful for a moment or two as he faltered and had to try hard once again not to cry. But it proved unsuccessful this time and a few tears dropped from behind his shades and onto the floor. In a split second, Wally was at Robin's side with an arm wrapped tightly around him.

"It's okay, Rob. Everything's going to be okay." Wally soothed. Wally smiled slightly as he felt his tense friend relax slightly into his grip, letting his guard down just that little bit more than he would with any of the others. Wally stared at the punching bag behind Robin's small form and was only slightly surprised to find that it was almost completely destroyed. Robin was totally silent and his face was still emotionless, the only sign that Robin was upset at all was that he had tears rolling down his face one after another. Wally pushed him gently, starting to guide him from the gym, "Come on man, let's get you to the lounge. It's okay."

The other four junior heroes gave the two a wide berth, they had never seen Robin this way and it was a total shock to them. After Wally and Robin left the room they followed behind hesitantly, almost as though they were frightened. Only Connor with his super-hearing and Wally who was closest to him heard Robin's tiny whimper, "It's not okay KF. It's my fault." Hearing this, Wally tightened his grip on his friend as though if he let go, he'd lose him forever.

Once in the lounge, Wally sat Robin down on the sofa and then sat next to him, watching him with the kind of concerned look that only a best friend can give a best friend. The others filed in, curious about what was going on and yet reluctant to know. This was _Robin_ they were talking about, the one who had always seemed as though he could handle anything, who could stare any villain in the face with confidence and never back down. It was so easy to forget that he was only thirteen years old sometimes. Even though he would never admit it, he was vulnerable to some things.

For a while nobody said anything, they just waited for Robin's silent tears to stop. But even though they did eventually stop, M'Gann could still feel that same crippling guilt and that same hatred that she had felt moments ago in the gym. No one deserved to feel that way, especially not such a self-sacrificing person as Robin. After he had stopped crying though, Robin looked around at his team who were surrounding him, each with their own confused or concerned expressions fixated on him.

"I suppose you're going to want some kind of explanation." Robin whispered. He stared down at his hands as he sifted through his thoughts to find one that might be coherent or maybe, god-forbid, useful. Robin sighed when no one spoke, they all must have assumed that he knew they wanted an explanation, "I can't tell you everything. It involves my identity."

"Look, you were hard on M'Gann this morning, then you basically destroyed a perfectly good punching bag and now you've randomly burst into tears. I think we're due an explanation of some kind." Artemis ranted. Then, with a sharp look from Wally, she took the bite out of her voice and coaxed, "Just tell us what you can. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I really hate seeing you like this. You're better when you're _you._"

Robin looked up to meet Artemis' eyes before hanging his head once again. He so badly wanted to tell them all but he didn't know where the line was. The line between what Batman would count as telling them his identity and just giving them a little bit of information. Robin swallowed hard, once more battling the lump in his throat, before saying, "I know I was rude earlier, I didn't mean to be. I'm sorry. I don't know if telling you is a good idea. How can I expect you to accept me if I can't even accept or forgive myself?" Robin wondered aloud, arousing more curiosity from the team.

"No!" Wally insisted, frowning. Kid Flash didn't care that the others were watching now; Robin had come to the Cave this year so if he had to do this here then he would. That was what friends did for each other. He turned Robin to face him and placed a hand on each shoulder before staring at him intently, "I'm tired of telling you this every year. It was _not_ your fault. If you want someone to blame then you can blame the person who really _is_ responsible."

"Responsible?" Kaldur questioned, cocking his head to one side slightly. Robin looked between them all, his eyes lingering on Wally for longer than the others as though he was trying to ask with his eyes whether it was really okay to tell the others the way that he would have communicated through his eyes with Batman. After receiving what seemed like no answer from Wally's eyes, Robin took a deep breath, making his choice. Consequences or no, he thought that sharing his pain may be a good thing and might even help him a little more than talking to Batman who didn't even take the time to properly speak to him this year.

With one last scan of his friends he nodded, "Okay," Robin started, "I suppose I should start by telling you that today is the anniversary of my parents' murders." Even from the first statement the look of astonishment and pity for the Team's youngest was unanimous. Robin hated seeing pity in their eyes, he didn't think of himself as someone to be pitied. But still he kept on going with his whole sad tale, earning all sorts of reactions ranging from shock to horror from each of his teammates. Even the usually emotionless or angry Connor let the occasional sad expression cross his features.

"But what haunts me the most every year is that I _could have done something_. I could have saved them." Robin finished. The Team were unsure of what it was that they were supposed to say at this point. Wally however, who had heard the whole sad story before, just stayed silent and watched the rest of team keeping a constant eye on Robin. Robin kept his eyes trained on the ground the whole time, he had leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together so that he could squeeze them together whenever he felt angry or wanted to cry.

The silence after the story was told had almost reached the unbearable point before a call from Batman came up on a large screen in front of them all, saving them from thinking of anything to say to either help or comfort Robin. Robin's head snapped up so fast that Wally thought he could have gotten whiplash from it when he had heard Batman's name announced. Robin stared contemptuously at the face of the man who had abandoned him in his time of need and his anger towards him only increased when he heard what his mentor had to say.

"Robin, things with the Riddler haven't cleared up yet, the situation is under control. But it would seem that you will have to stay at the Cave tonight with the others. I will update you tomorrow morning." Batman spoke emotionlessly and unceremoniously. But as soon as his face disappeared from the screen, Robin felt that same loss that he had felt earlier that morning as he had watched him run away into the distance.

Wally and Robin both stared at each other in worry and, on Robin's part, fear. Robin always had the most horrific nightmares on this day; the last thing he wanted was to bother the Team with his restlessness. He knew that nightmare so well; he could see it even then in his head. It was almost the same as the actual day. The day that _he_ had allowed his family to fall to their deaths. Connor suddenly heard Robin's heart rate quicken significantly and he turned his gaze back to Robin and noticed that he was breathing a lot quicker than he had been previously.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked. At his question, the others also returned their gazes to Robin who was still staring in disbelief at Wally. Only now he had his lips parted and his breathing was getting faster and faster and his heart beating faster and faster. M'Gann could feel his emotions conflicting with one another, another dominant feeling now came to her attention and it was fear, and general distress.

"He's hyperventilating!" Artemis said with slight panic in her own voice. She ran over to Robin and kneeled down in front of him and then started to breath in slowly through her nose and then through her mouth, "Like this Robin, in and out. Calm down Robin. You have to calm down."

But how could Robin calm down?

_**I hope you enjoyed it! Please go ahead and review!**_

_**It was going to be a one-shot, but let me know if you want to read some more. **_

_**Thanks, Varishi x**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay so I'm back, I don't really know how long this story is going to end up but I suppose you can just keep telling me when you want to read more and I'll write more ;)**_

_**I couldn't help myself, I wrote this new chapter whilst it was still in my head and so I'm uploading it right now! I'll update as often as possible, but on weekdays I get insanely busy so you may have to wait until next weekend!**_

_**Special thanks to the Guest who gave me the tip to put Robin down as the main character on the drop-lists. I had totally forgotten to do that! So thanks :D**_

_**Also, **__**Yuu101cutie**__** said that Batman deserved a punch to the face (which I completely agree with!) so yeah, I'm totally going to write him getting punched in the face right about now :D**_

_**Anyway, onwards I guess! Enjoy :)**_

_**Varishi x**_

Despite Artemis' best efforts, Robin was stuck in his own mind. He couldn't hear anything that was going on around him, he felt intense panic and he was taking in air quickly and pushing it out even faster. All Robin was aware of was that he was without a family, and it was all his own fault. If Batman really cared about him, he wouldn't have left him alone with a bunch of people who didn't know his secret identity. Sure, Wally knew, but Wally couldn't look after him or even let him talk about it when the others were around. Simply put, Bruce had condemned Dick to a whole day of mental torture.

Whilst all of these fast and hurt thoughts were running through Robin's head, the rest of the Team had no idea how to stop Robin's hyperventilating. They had all gathered around so that they were closer but not crowding him, and they were all talking at the same time trying to help their youngest. If they waited too long then he would pass out from oxygen deprivation and would have one hell of a headache. M'Gann, who was still fully in tune with Robin's feelings, could feel what could only be described as hundreds of tsunamis crashing together within the young acrobat's mind – making the Martian feel sick. M'Gann thought to herself that is she was getting ill from only feeling a fraction of what Robin was then Robin must have really been in mental pain.

It wasn't only the mental pain though, Robin's chest was beginning to feel as though there was something else in his lungs trying to claw its way out. There was a sort of bruising sensation as his lungs continued to work hard to keep Robin breathing. The whole team were trying to get Robin's attention, trying to somehow help him, but none of them were getting through. That is, until Wally noticed the pained expression coming onto his best friend's face. The speedster decided that enough was enough and he needed to do something more.

"Robin, look at me!" Wally commanded in the loudest, most authoritative voice that the Team had ever heard him use. They watched in awe as he shook the boy and almost immediately managed to get Robin's eyes to meet his. But instead of breaking out into a triumphant smile, Wally stayed completely focused, "What happened was _not_ your fault, you were _eight years old._ If Batman wants to run around playing crusader _today_, then who cares about him? You're not alone!"

At the mention of Batman's name, Robin's eyes had clouded over with tears. How could Bruce leave him on this day? Robin would never leave him on _his_ day, so why had Bruce left him? He felt a sharp pain across his cheek, did KF just slap him? Robin's eyes refocused on Wally again, coming out of his dark thoughts once again and there the familiar face was. Wally, his best friend, was there looking at him slightly apologetically, begging him to do as Artemis was doing and slow his breathing down. Finally coming into a full focus, Robin suddenly became aware that if followed Artemis' example, then the pain in his chest would significantly lessen.

Artemis tried not to let the relief that she felt show too much on her face as she saw Robin's panicked eyes focus on her own. After a moment or two of hard concentration, Robin managed to draw a breath in through his nose, then another and another. After about a minute of effort, Robin's breathing finally slowed to a normal pace and he rubbed at his sore chest unhappily. Now that everyone knew about why today was so very hard on him, he saw no need to hide his emotions and stared directly at the floor with his shoulder slouched. He truly looked like a person who had simply given up, and that look was out of place on a thirteen year old.

Artemis, who was still knelt in front of Robin, found herself upset that she had never noticed before exactly how much Robin was hurting on the inside. She found her respect for Robin growing ten thousand times bigger than it had been previously. She now understood why Robin had been so off that morning, how could he have possibly been expected to keep it together? The archer looked up to see Robin looking straight back at her, breathing unevenly as he seemed to be trying to keep more tears in. A strange feeling came over Artemis as she suddenly got up and grabbed Robin into a tight hug. The little ninja tensed up in her hold and it took a while, but he did eventually relax, and Artemis felt her jacket getting damp as Robin hid his face into her clothes and cried.

The Team couldn't help but stare at Wally and Artemis. Wally, the speedster who seemed almost incapable of being serious hadn't hesitated to throw his inhibitions to the side and do whatever was necessary to help his friend. He had even slapped Robin to get him to focus, and that was something that no one else on the Team would have done. Then there was Artemis, just earlier she had been moaning about how rude Robin had been, but just then she had pushed those opinions away and they were forgotten as she had calmly helped him to recover and was now even hugging the kid. They were amazing; M'Gann may have been in touch with Robin's emotions: but she hadn't done anything to help him. Connor didn't even understand why Robin was acting so strangely – and Kaldur? Well, he was too busy wondering what exactly hyperventilation _was_ to actually aid his friend.

"I'm so tired, and my head hurts." The small voice was so unfamiliar coming from Robin, but still the whole Team heard him and Artemis pulled him away so that she could look at his face. Once again, he was completely expressionless on the outside but nobody could know exactly what he was thinking on the inside. His shades even hid his puffy eyes, so there was quite literally no evidence that Robin had ever been in that state at all. He even made a special effort to sit up straight and strong.

In bewilderment, the Team watched as Robin got up and started to walk to his room. No one said anything, it was normal for him to be tired and it was normal for _Robin_ to act as if everything was absolutely fine. They all knew that Robin was strong and that he hated to appear weak, so trying to act as if everything that had just happened _hadn't _happened, was just like him. But the last thing he needed right now was to be alone, and one person knew that no matter how hard he tried, Robin would never get any real rest in his room. So, reaching out with his super speed, Wally caught Robin's wrist causing the smaller boy to turn around in slight confusion.

"Come on man, both of us know that going away isn't going to help you right now." Wally said with the kind of logic that you just can't deny. Robin fought with himself for a while, trying to think of a good excuse to just get away from that room and away from those people. He didn't _want_ to talk to them and he didn't want to bother them with his troubled thoughts. Unfortunately, Robin just couldn't think of a good argument to leave and ended up nodding his agreement with Wally and returning to his best friend's side.

Almost as soon as Robin sat down, M'Gann couldn't help but think that she wouldn't be able to handle sitting with him present the whole day if his feelings were just going to stay the same. She could hardly bare them then, so she imagined in a few hours she would be driven mad. She almost wondered how Robin wasn't insane already. So, instead of leaving her worries to her own mind, she thought of a way to change her circumstances, "Robin would you like to talk about it? I would like to help you stop feeling guilty."

Robin's eyes widened behind his shades, he knew that she could feel what he did, but she was just so open about it. Robin considered the thought for a moment before wondering to himself whether it would actually help to talk to someone other than Batman or Alfred. Before Robin could either agree or disagree with anything, Wally – who had gotten up to reach for the biscuit tin on the coffee table in front of him – tripped and fell onto the remote control for the TV that had been left on the floor carelessly. The TV buzzed into life and the face of a reporter was revealed.

"He has already killed three people, two men and a woman, and is currently believed to still be somewhere in the south of Gotham." The reporter said. Robin's eyes widened, was this Riddler? Batman had said the situation was under control, three known murders was _not_ under control. Wally grabbed the remote whilst returning to the sofa and then sat down, turning the volume up on the TV in concern.

"Batman and the police are currently reprimanding Zucco and hopefully he will be imprisoned once more by the end of this evening. We have been told that we will be kept updated as to how Tony Zucco will answer for his actions as this story develops."

Had Robin just heard that name? That name that he had never wished to hear in this way ever again? Batman had lied about the Riddler; he was _really_ out to get Tony Zucco. Had Batman deliberately kept him in the dark about this? Robin's hands clenched into fists and fresh anger filled him as he began to shake. Not only was Robin angry with Zucco for going out there and making families suffer for no reason again, but he was furious at Batman for keeping him in the dark. How dare he?

Wally quickly noticed the ninja's distress and turned the TV off, regretting his own clumsiness again. That was _the_ Tony Zucco, the one who had orphaned Rob and left him to grow up in a household of strict rules and danger. Wally felt his own cheeks flush in anger, but once again, Robin had left that detail out when he had been telling his friends about his parents' murders – so none of the Young Justice team knew that Tony Zucco was responsible for the Graysons' deaths.

"It's him." Robin growled with such malice infused into his voice that M'Gann flinched at the sudden murderous intent Robin was feeling. Batman had caught him, so there was no need for Robin to go out there and stop Zucco – but he wished that _he_ had been the one to catch him. When Zucco killed his parents, Robin had simply had him thrown in prison because in his opinion that _was_ justice. That _was_ revenge. But seeing that he had killed three more people after escaping from prison, Robin wanted nothing more than to make him suffer: to make Tony Zucco suffer the way that he had suffered all these years. But Batman had taken that chance away from him and Robin would never forgive him for keeping Zucco's escape a secret from him.

"It's okay, Batman's taken care of it. You don't need to worry, Rob." Wally insisted, feeling certain that he was saying the right thing. The speedster thought that Robin must have been scared because the man who murdered his parents in front of him had gotten out of prison and might look for him or something. But Wally was wrong. Robin wasn't scared, Robin didn't want to hide or worry. The young acrobat was _angry_. In a Gotham patrolled by Batman and his protégé, Robin couldn't believe the sheer _nerve_ of Zucco. To get out of prison and actually murder three innocent people, and how could Batman not let Robin know that? Surely he knew that Robin might watch the news?

"It's _not_ okay, KF!" Robin shouted, eyes flashing. Kaldur stared at Robin in shock as the youngest member of Young Justice got to his feet and started throwing his arms around whilst he ranted about this criminal: Tony Zucco, and Batman. Robin was torn between whether he should feel betrayed or not, he couldn't help but voice it, "If the man who killed my parents has escaped from prison, then I want to at the _very least_ be told! What right does Batman have to keep that from me? On today of all days!"

"Tony Zucco killed your parents?" Kaldur asked in that same collected manner that made him leader. Robin nodded sharply at his leader and continued gritting his teeth in frustration as his thoughts stayed on Batman's deception. Kaldur understood why Robin was so upset with Batman now; it _did_ seem unfair that such important and personal information should be withheld from the person whom Batman was supposed to trust the most.

"He was just trying to protect you, I think, Rob." Kid Flash reasoned. Robin turned on him and crossed him arms across his chest tightly. Wally took a step forward to try and comfort his friend, but Robin was far too wound up to need comforting, as Wally stepped forward he stepped back and shook his head quickly.

"No, I had a right to know and he broke my trust. He promised that he'd _never_ do this to me. He lied to me." Robin countered. After admitting to himself that Batman had lied to him, Robin suddenly felt more hurt than before. Robin sat down on the sofa again and then looked around at his team, defeated. Bringing his knees up to his chin, Robin continued, "What should I do?"

For the umpteenth time that day, Robin had shocked them by being so out of character. He had asked someone else what to do rather than dealing with it himself, no matter how hard it may be. After looking at each other and thinking about the question, Artemis decided to answer first, "I really think that this is something you need to talk about with Batman."

"Agreed. I'll stay whelmed until he comes here in the morning I guess." Robin suggested and the others nodded eagerly. They all just wanted to calm down and have a little bit of time to process all of the new information that had been handed to them that day. They were all shaken by Robin's sad past and each of them was reacting in a different way. Not only that, but none of them knew quite what to make of Batman's deception of his protégé. Sure, Batman may have been trying to protect Robin, but just as the youngest member of the team had said, he still had the right to know. Especially if Tony Zucco had affected his life so heavily.

Just then, when everything had fallen silent again, the Cave announced the arrival of the dark knight himself. Batman strolled into the living room to see the whole team gathered on sofas, Robin and Wally sat very close together for comfort. Robin had felt his anger flare when Batman's name was announced and had turned around to glare at him harshly. Batman came to stand in front of his protégé, expecting Robin to stand up but surprised when he remained seated. On this day though, Batman didn't mind the lack of manners. Instead, he spoke, "Robin, I lied to you."

"I'm aware." Robin snapped back. Bruce had been expecting this, the possibility that Robin would find out before he told him. He had intended to explain everything when the two of them were safely back at Wayne Manor, but difficult circumstances had changed things. But before Batman could explain everything, Robin had already started, picking that moment to jump to his feet and point accusingly at Batman, "How _could_ you? You promised!"

"Robin, please listen." Batman started, but he was cut off. Surprisingly he was not cut off by Robin, he was cut off by Artemis who told him to 'shut up and listen' to Robin. His ward seemed to almost manage a grateful smile in her direction before he faced Batman again and courageously argued with him. The Team seemed dumb-struck; no one dared to argue with Batman because he always carried an air of constant danger about him. But Robin had no trouble, he stepped up remembering how Batman had treated him with absolutely no sympathy and had acted as though he hadn't even cared. Then he'd betrayed him further and lied right to his face! Robin couldn't forgive him, and then, before he could stop himself he swung a strong fist around and hit his mentor square on the jaw. Bruce was sent reeling away from Robin, usually such a punch wouldn't have affected him nearly as much as that one had, but it was delivered by his own ward. Batman looked at Robin disbelievingly, as did the Young Justice team. No one had expected Robin to actually hit him, no one was aware of just how upset Robin was with his mentor. But Robin didn't stop there, he closed the distance between himself and Batman and shouted right into his face and despite himself, Batman let the shock and hurt show in his body language.

"I won't listen to you," Robin rejected, "No matter what you say to me you can never make this right. I'm your _partner_, your friend; you're supposed to trust in me! You know how important this day is to me and yet you left me behind like it was just another day. You didn't even tell me to 'feel better' or anything like that!" Robin continued his verbal rampage along these lines until the dark knight grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Robin!" He shouted. Robin stopped talking abruptly and stared back at Batman with clear pain in his eyes, the boy thought about punching his mentor again but resisted when heard a certain kind of desperation in Bruce's voice. Not Batman's voice, Bruce's. Batman let go of his ward after glancing at the angry glares of the teenagers around him and dropped his hands to his sides, "We can argue later. Zucco escaped again and he's after you. We need to get you somewhere safe." He growled. He hadn't realised how much he had hurt Dick by leaving him with his friends today – he had felt guilty earlier. But he thought that Robin would be okay so long as he had someone with him who knew his past, like Wally. Yeah, Bruce wasn't stupid; he knew that Dick had told the speedster. But clumsy as the boy might be, he was loyal. So he had made an exception.

Of all of the things that Robin had expected Batman to say, that was definitely not one of them. Robin's breath caught in his throat in fear, he felt like he was the eight year old victim again.

_**There, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**_

_**I thought that if this story is going to go on, there needed to be a bigger plot. So I threw in something more!**_

_**Please tell me what you thought and if you want suggest any ideas for future chapters!**_

_**By the way, if you see any errors in spelling or grammar, please let me know because no one checks my work other than me :)**_

_**Thanks, Varishi x**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey there! Have another chapter! I don't know how long this is going to be just yet, but I don't want to make it too long. I'll try not to make too many chapters because I have other story ideas that I want to move on to as well!**_

_**A big thanks to all reviewers, PMers and all those who favourited and followed! :D**_

_**Anyways, here are the replies to your reviews (and just something to be noted, I've recently registered to be a beta, so if any of you guys need me don't hesitate to ask!):**_

_**Yuu101cutie: **__** You're welcome! I completely thought that Batman needed a punch, so really it just had to be done! And don't worry, the Team are going to keep a close eye on Robin for now xx**_

_**randomkitty101:**__** Dang is correct. Serious. ( ^,^)**_

_**StarGirl26:**__** I know, I felt better after I wrote Robin punching Batman too! And Tony Zucco is the worst. But then again, without him there'd be no Robin... Hmm. :D Food for thought.**_

_**bookchomper101:**__** Haha thanks, glad you're enjoying it! I'll update ASAP. Also, side note here, Boyce Avenue!? Instant respect – always a good jam ;)**_

_**Guest (same guest as before!):**__** Thanks! And yes, Batman's Batman. So he always has a reason! I hope you enjoy this next chapter too :D **_

_**Right then! Without further ado, please enjoy this next chapter!**_

_**Thanks a lot, Varishi x**_

What had Batman meant 'after you'? Did Tony Zucco know that Robin was Richard Grayson? The Team didn't even know that so how could that be possible? There weren't enough details to satisfy him and he knew that he would get nothing out of Batman until he moved locations. But the thing was, Robin couldn't see the point in moving – surely the Cave was the safest place for him to be right now. The ninja noticed that Batman was looking at him hard, as though trying to solve some sort of complex equation, but instead of looking away like any other on the team would have, Robin met his eyes unguardedly. Then he thought, unless Batman meant to lock him up in the Bat-cave until he took care of the matter. Wait, Batman couldn't possibly mean to store him away like some sort of porcelain ornament whilst he went out and brought Zucco in, could he?

Batman, while all of these worried thoughts whizzed through Robin's head, was staring evenly at his protégé. But in all honesty, he was completely taken aback. Robin had _punched_ him. Okay, so today was the anniversary of a horrible day in history for the kid, and he was bound to be a little unstable in his emotions, but Batman – no, Bruce – had managed to upset his ward to the point of feeling that he needed to be violent towards him. He'd had no idea of what Robin had been feeling. In fact, Robin never spoke about his feelings and Bruce supposed that the habit was completely down to him. He had never encouraged showing emotion, either at home or on the job, if anything he had always discouraged showing weakness. But he had meant _weakness_; weakness and emotion were two very different things.

The rest of the Team glanced anxiously between Robin and Batman. Both bats were on their feet and staring one another down. After the new information that Tony Zucco, the man responsible for Robin's parents' deaths, was after their youngest they had felt a flare of anger. But Robin had hardly reacted at all, he seemed shocked but that was all they could say about the boy. Batman still seemed struck with amazement that Robin had punched him (a brilliant right hook, by the way, in Wally's opinion) and was looking as though he was thinking through what he had done to upset his protégé.

Then, as though coming to his senses, Batman seemed to snap back into his usual steely focus and addressed Robin once again, but in a strangely soft voice this time. A voice totally unfamiliar to the Team. He tried again, "Robin, the safest place for you is at the Bat-cave. Just let me protect you there, and I'll bring him to justice."

"No." Robin said flatly, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Once again, the thirteen-year-old's mentor looked dumb-founded, and once again tears sprung to Robin's eyes as he realised the extent of Batman's lack of faith in him. M' Gann could feel clearly the betrayal that Robin was experiencing and she almost felt like intervening in their argument. But she knew that it was not her place, and so she remained silent. Watching, much like the others, with wide and inspired eyes as this small, young hero stood up to someone as legendary and intimidating as _the_ Batman.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Batman demanded with an edge of frustration in his voice that turned his words into growls. He crossed his arms and regarded his ward coolly, maybe he didn't understand properly. A few choice questions should clear up what exactly was going on in Robin's mind; well, that was the theory anyway. Batman continued, softening his voice again, "You understand the danger you're in?"

Robin nodded firmly and then scowled when he saw Bruce's eyebrow rise behind his cowl in wonder. Batman truly didn't understand what Robin was thinking, but Robin knew this all too well and decided to explain himself, "I _understand_ the danger perfectly well. What hurts me is that you're going to expect me to sit around and wait until _you_ bring Zucco in yourself. Maybe _I_ understand the danger to _me, _but do _you_ understand the danger to_ yourself?"_

On hearing what his ward had to say, Batman understood a little clearer. But the thing was there was no room for debate. Zucco wasn't openly after _him_, he was after Robin. So it made perfect sense for Batman to leave the young acrobat in a protected place whilst he went out to take care of things. There was no need to risk Robin's life. Nodding his head, Batman clenched his jaw and prepared for the storm that was coming after what he had to say next, "I understand the danger and accept it. There is no room for discussion, you will come with me to the Bat-cave and you will stay put until I come back."

Even after Robin had openly displayed how he felt about Batman leaving to pursue such a dangerous opponent, Batman had simply shut him down again. Robin had even subverted the idea that he was worried that Batman would get hurt and leave him just like his parents had five years ago. But Batman's face remained cold and stony and even Connor seemed slightly annoyed at the dark knight's clear dismissal of Robin's feelings. Robin's mouth hung open, speechless at his mentor's heartlessness. Bruce had always seemed so caring and in-tune with his feelings. But today he was disregarding them in a way that was out of character for even Batman.

The truth was, Bruce hated having to push his ward's feelings aside like that. If there was more time, he would be more than happy to pull up and chair and talk to him about anything he wanted, about everything he wanted. But today Tony Zucco was running around making threats against _his_ boy, and the fastest way to get Robin out of the Cave in Happy Harbour and into the Cave in Gotham was to order him to go there. If Batman asserted his intentions hard enough, then Robin would give up trying to argue with him and simply follow his orders – it had been that way in the past after all. But of course it wasn't _just_ Robin and Batman in that room, the whole Young Justice team were there and gawping between the two bats as though they were acting out some sort of performance.

"If you're going to leave Robin all alone in a cave while you go out fighting, then we're going to come and keep him company." Connor – surprisingly – said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. But seeing the tiny, almost invisible smile appear on Robin's face, Batman knew that if he allowed the Team to go with his ward to the Bat-cave, then Robin would go willingly: and that was what Batman needed right then. Connor then followed up with another excellent point that made his decision final, "Besides, we could serve as your sort of last defence system."

The rest of the Team, Robin included despite his fresh new-found dislike for his 'partner', crossed their fingers metaphorically that Batman would allow it. Meanwhile, Batman was feeling more and more on edge with every passing minute because Robin hadn't been moved to the Bat-cave yet and he was worried. Like every other parent would be in this situation, the dark knight was scared for his young ward. So, with a irritated sigh, Batman gave a curt nod of his consent and told M'Gann to get her Bio-ship ready, there was no way six teenagers would fit in the Bat-mobile. With a relieved smile that she would be able to keep a further eye on Robin in his time of imminent danger, M'Gann happily obliged the bat.

After a few short moments, Connor signalled to the others to make their way to the Bio-ship. The others simply assumed that M'Gann had contacted him through mind-link. After all, the two did share a more profound emotional bond than any of the others did to M'Gann. So, the Young Justice team made their way hastily to the Bio-ship. Batman and Robin waited behind for a moment, Robin staring at Batman with hurt eyes and Batman gazing back with emotionless ones – no, wait. Was that an apologetic look under there? Either way, even looking at his mentor broke Robin's particularly fragile heart so instead of allowing Batman a moment to explain himself further, Robin stomped after his team penitently.

Batman looked on after his protégé sadly; things had gone a whole lot worse than he had anticipated. But still, after all of this was over, he would have plenty of time to explain everything. Just then it had seemed as though he was incapable of finding the correct words, he was an intelligent man and yet he was basically incapable of speaking in a diplomatic way back there. He quickly shook his head and strode confidently towards the Bio-ship, concentrating on the matter at hand. He would drop his ward off at the Bat-cave and leave him under its protection and then track Zucco down and do whatever he had to in order to protect Robin.

When he arrived, the Young Justice team were already strapped in and ready to go and Batman couldn't help but notice that Robin had placed himself in the seat that was the furthest away from the last vacant seat that he would fill. With a soft sigh, Batman entered and sat in the empty seat with a flinch as the seatbelt fastened _itself_ around him. With that, M'Gann announced the ship's takeoff and then got up to walk over to Batman who looked as though he was procrastinating over something – presumably Robin given recent events.

"I don't know where your Bat-cave is, and I thought that you would like to keep it confidential, and so would you like to steer the ship?" M'Gann asked with a smile on her face. Batman turned to her and responded with only a nod. No wonder Robin found it difficult to feel appreciated if this was the way his mentor acted all the time. Uncle J'onn only ever showed M'Gann the deepest affection and gave the most useful, but gentle, of guidance. Robin appeared to have been deprived of that. So, when Batman had been released and was about to head to the captain's chair, M'Gann whispered in his ear as he passed, "Perhaps Robin would appreciate a more _loving_ approach."

Batman's eyes widened at the Martian's words. What gave her the right to butt in to his life anyway? What did she mean 'a more loving approach'? Batman _did_ love Robin, and he did have a hard time expressing it (even a pat on the head was awkward to him) but he had always assumed that Robin had known that he was loved. Had Robin said something to the Martian? Batman frowned in thought as he sat down at the controls and began to steer the ship in the direction of the Bat-cave. After he had entered the right co-ordinates, Batman glanced at the back of his ward's head out of concern.

The journey to the Bat-cave was altogether rather uneventful. Wally argued the whole time with Artemis about all sorts of silly things that really didn't matter at all. Connor and M'Gann spoke in hushed voices with Kaldur dropping the occasional word in here and there. The Team seemed generally quite comfortable in each other's company, but none of them allowed the silence between Robin and his mentor to go unnoticed. It was surreal enough having Batman aboard the ship, but the silence just made the experience frightening. Robin was sat staring blankly ahead of him at a wall, and Wally knew that he was probably thinking about his family and about Batman's apparent lack of trust in him. Batman however was staring unbrokenly at the back of Robin's head, probably puzzling over M'Gann's words.

After roughly an hour's flight, the Bio-ship came in to land, there was a loud sound on the roof for a moment, but then it was gone. The Young Justice team did wonder about what the sound was, but soon dismissed it when they felt the ship meet the ground. Robin didn't need to worry about the sound; he knew that it was the waterfall that hid the Cave's entrance. The Bio-ship morphed an exit on M'Gann's command and the junior heroes accompanied by a senior left the ship. Everyone, excluding Batman and Robin, gawped at the area around them with wide eyes. The technology was on a whole other level, the Cave itself was breath-taking and the overall fear factor of the place just screamed that it belonged to Batman.

The Young Justice team stared around at the Bat-cave in awe and Wally's eyes shone as he looked around at all of the buttons that he could _press._ But before he could speed off to push every button he could find and pull every lever, Batman gave him a warning glare that told him that if he broke anything, then Batman would break _him._ As it happened, Artemis seemed to be giving him that same look. Connor looked unimpressed on the outside, but on the inside even he couldn't deny that everything around him was cool. Especially the large plane-looking thing that was sat over to the left. Kaldur and M'Gann, however, were speaking to each other in low voices about the still obvious tension between Batman and Robin.

Before anyone could think any further though, Batman called them all over. The dark knight had already lost an hour and a bit getting Robin to the safety of the Bat-cave, and now he really wanted to just get back out there and get Tony Zucco back in custody as soon as he possibly could. When the Batman had raised his voice to get the Team to gather around and take his orders, they had happily obliged. All but Robin. Robin remained out of the circle with his back turned on his mentor. Batman felt a stab at his heart at the clear rejection he was receiving; he wanted nothing more than to explain to his ward that he was only treating him differently today because he didn't want him to get hurt by the same man who had murdered his parents five years ago. There was no sign of Robin joining them, so instead of making matters worse by trying to force him to listen, Batman just continued.

"It's late, so I would suggest trying to get some rest," Batman started. Artemis gave a sigh of relief; being the only human other than Robin she was exhausted. It was late, way past midnight, and she _needed_ her sleep or her usual temper would be nothing in comparison to what was coming. Batman then turned his attention to Robin who was stood taking deep heavy breaths – probably trying to control his emotions, "That means you too Robin, get some sleep. I, in the mean time, am going to go after Zucco. I will keep you notified."

With that last comment, Robin spun around wildly with his eyebrows furrowed into a harsh frown. At his sides were two clenched fists with white knuckles and you could tell by looking at his face that he was clenching his jaw hard. Batman blinked in surprise as Robin shouted again, "So that's it? You're going to leave me here and catch that bastard yourself?" Batman frowned and snapped Robin's name at the curse word. But Robin couldn't hear Batman; he was in a total blind fury. He started to stomp towards Batman, no one quite knowing his intentions. To be perfectly honest, Robin didn't really know what he was doing either, all he knew was that he was upset and _angry_.

Worried that Robin might attack Batman again, Wally sped over and tugged on his young friend's arm to stop him in his tracks. With a pleading look, Wally managed to convey everything that he was thinking to Robin and the acrobat visibly calmed significantly. Batman gave a short nod at Wally in thanks, but Wally did not return any pleasantries, he was too worried about Robin and frankly, too annoyed with Batman. Usually Batman was far more understanding of his protégé, but today Zucco had clouded Batman's judgement. Even Wally thought that going after Zucco alone was a bad idea. But hey, it was Batman's city and he didn't dare argue with Batman: that was Robin's job.

Batman didn't know what to do; he wasn't sure whether he should say anything else or whether he should do anything. So instead of worrying about it any further and wasting more time, he simply turned and left in silence. He would begin his pursuit of Zucco immediately, the sooner that was taken care of, the sooner he could take care of the broken relationship between himself and his ward. But even as he was leaving, he could feel Robin's distraught eyes on his back.

After Batman was out of sight, the team fixed their eyes on their youngest member, he was shaking. But whether it was in anger or in sadness was unknown to any of them. Wally let go of Robin's arm now and smiled sympathetically at him. M'Gann was beginning to get dizzy at the amount of different things that were going through Robin's mind so she made a special effort to block out Robin's thoughts and feelings. But that was a task in itself. Interrupting the silence, Artemis clapped her hands together loudly and began to walk over to the comfortable sofa area at the far right side of the Bat-cave. It was never there before as far as Robin remembered, so he wondered when exactly that had made an appearance. Artemis spoke as she headed for the seats, "Well. The man ordered us to sleep and I for one am going to do that."

"How can you sleep knowing that there's all of this cool stuff around us?" Wally asked incredulously, he crossed his arms across his chest and added, "Don't you want to know how all of this stuff works?" Artemis froze on the spot for a moment nodding as though she was considering what Wally had just said to her. But then she shrugged and continued walking towards the comfy chairs and the promise of sleep. Wally rolled his eyes, so what if she wanted to be boring. _He_ wanted to check things out, that is, he _had_ wanted to check things out until Robin gave him a pretty good attempt at a bat-glare.

Kaldur took the opportunity to step up as a leader, "I suggest we all go to sleep. It is as Batman said, he will keep us informed and we all need to rest. It has been a long day." The rest of the team nodded simply at Kaldur's words, accepting the suggestion as the best plan. But Robin hadn't wanted to hear those words; in fact he had dreaded those words. Robin knew perfectly well that if he went to sleep he would have a nightmare. It was hard to tell _which _nightmare, but the ending was always the same. He always watched them die, he always woke up shaking and crying and this time he couldn't rely on Bruce to help him through the rest of the night. But that was all an if, whether he would be _able_ to get to sleep in the first place was a complete unknown.

So as the others settled into a comfortable position on the cushioned chairs, Robin just sat down and mentally prepared himself for a long night ahead. One of the worst parts of insomnia was the fact that from night until morning, you were left alone with your own thoughts. In situations such as this one, when there were other people around, you couldn't really even do anything else out of fear of waking them. So Robin was going to be left to dwell on his own thoughts for hours on end, and his thoughts were neither pleasant nor manageable.

After a while, Robin began to hear his Team's breathing getting heavier as they entered a stage of deep sleep, in some cases they began to snore softly. Not one of them stirred. While they slept, Robin remembered that this would make his second night in a row with absolutely no sleep. The night before that he had gotten around three hours of sleep, by the time the sun rose, Robin would definitely be aching everywhere and he would be even less able to focus properly than he had been that day. Even worse, he would probably grow more emotional. Between all of these thoughts, Robin thought about his family, his biological one. Once more the scene replayed itself in his head and he could do nothing to stop it, because it was permanently burnt into the back of his eyes. He buried his face in his arms and squeezed his eyes shut as their screams echoes in his ears and he felt his loss like it was brand new all over again.

Why did Zucco have to do it? Did he realise that he had killed an innocent family and orphaned a child? For years Robin had thought about the actual raw reasons that Tony Zucco could have had for killing his family, and for years he could think of nothing. There was no reason, Zucco needed no logic; it was just pure unabashed greed. These were the thoughts that Robin thought all night long, and as the night progressed Robin became more and more distressed and he felt closer and closer to breaking. But, just as he thought he had reached that point where he was in danger of losing the ability to enjoy life, the sun began to rise. It was that sunrise that showed Robin that the anniversary was finally well and truly over and it was a new day.

Robin got to his feet finally after hours and hours of sitting and listening to everyone else's peaceful sleeping, and stumbled when his vision was clouded by a sort of black fog passing over his eyes and making him dizzy for a moment before passing. He went straight to the entrance of the Bat-cave and watched as the water and sunlight mixed to create a beautiful rainbow. Just as he was starting to feel a vaguely familiar warmth that he used to know as happiness fill his heart, a sharp beeping sound starting to blare out from the main computer. So, wincing at the loud sound as he knew that it would wake his friends for sure, he walked in a disorientated manner towards the computer to receive the incoming message. Despite everything that had happened, Robin still hoped to see Batman safe. But the message held a whole other story.

"Master Robin, I'm afraid I carry bad news," Alfred's face popped up on the screen blurred out to protect his identity. Robin felt his stomach drop when he had mentioned 'bad news'. Robin was unsure whether he would be able to handle anymore 'bad news'. But still, although Alfred knew the kid was having a roughly couple of days lately, he still deserved to know everything and so he added, "I'm afraid I have lost contact with Batman. I believe him to be captured by Tony Zucco."

Robin's world went numb. _Impossible._

_**Thanks for reading! Please review if you can, I love to read your feedback! **_

_**I have two more chapters planned after this, it might run into three. But I think that's a pretty good length... Right? Meh. I don't really know.**_

_**Hopefully, I'll have the chapters uploaded quickly because on the 27**__**th**__** I'm moving house all the way over to a different country. England. So yeah, it's all the way over the other side of the world so it'll take a good week for me to get everything back in order and get settled. Wish me luck with that!**_

_**Thanks again and don't forget to review!**_

_**Varishi x**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hi again! It's the weekend, so yeah more chapters for you guys! I hope you're still enjoying the story.**_

_**I have one more chapter planned after this one, so the end is near you guys! After this story, I was thinking of doing a series of one-shots based on prompts that you guys send to me. Or I could do another YJ based story – probably Robin-centric again seeing how I love his character! So, I've put a poll up on my profile so that you guys can choose what story I write next. Don't forget to go and vote on the poll for what you want next!**_

_**Bit of comfort for Robin in this chapter!**_

_**whelmedwithaster:**__** Thanks, hopefully the move will go well... Or as close to well as it can go... And I'm glad you like the characterisation of Robin, I wasn't too sure at first but I'm getting a bit happier with writing him like this. Bruce is a bit of an idiot, but only when it concerns Robin's safety I suppose. He's a complex character -_- Thanks for the review!**_

_**Onto the story! **_

There was no way. Batman couldn't possible have _really_ been captured, could he? He was the most powerful man that Robin knew, the one that even League members looked up to for his abnormal strength and presence of mind. Of all people to be caught by as well! The same man who had killed his parents now had his adoptive father-figure, and probably intended to kill him too. After all, Batman was the one – partnered with Robin – who had put him in a cell five years ago. Even though they had been disagreeing a lot the previous day, this news still devastated Robin. How much more could Tony Zucco possibly take from him? What more did Robin even _have_? Apart from Bruce and his friends, Robin could think of nothing of any real value.

Even through the blurred out splodge that was Alfred, Robin could still see his concerned look as the young acrobat seemed frozen on the spot. The English butler hadn't heard Robin say a word, or even move, it was almost as though he had shut down. He thought it must have been pretty hard to 'stay whelmed' as the boy would put it when he had just heard news such as this. Alfred noticed that several teenagers flanked Robin's sides, rubbing at their eyes sleepily and yawning. For their benefit, Alfred reported his troubling news again. This time, his words were greeted with gasps and questions. For Robin, hearing it twice only made the news sink in further and he realised how worthless his _feelings_ were right then – when Batman was missing and possibly in danger.

The Team had been asking constant questions at a suddenly flustered Alfred until Robin turned and slammed his fist down on the computer desk to grab their attention. The Young Justice team jumped, still slightly groggy with sleep. Superboy winced as the sound pierced his eardrums painfully. Robin turned back to Alfred and made his decision, he would _not_ lose Batman. No matter how badly he had treated Robin recently, Batman was the closest thing Robin had to family now and he wouldn't lose another family to the same man.

"I want you to keep searching for Batman's location and keep trying to contact him. I'll contact the League and take it from there, keep me posted." Robin commanded clearly. Alfred had just enough time to give the young boy a short nod before Robin cut the communication. Alfred could only be glad, as he turned back to his computer and began to research, that Robin had enough sense about him to take control. The rest of the Team however just gawped at their youngest in amazement. Robin had been through so much in only a day, he had endured the anniversary of his parents' murders and they all knew perfectly well that he hadn't slept at all that night and now he had been told that his mentor had been captured by that same man that was haunting him. Yet still, Robin once again had done the extraordinary and taken extra weight on his shoulders, all to help the mentor who had neglected and dismissed him on the most terrible day out of the whole year for him. Robin was amazing, an inspiration in fact.

Robin in his mind, however, was annoyed; he couldn't help but think that if Batman had simply brought him along on the mission then he would never have been captured. But Batman hadn't brought him along, and Tony Zucco _had_ captured him in all likelihood. Robin felt himself being slowly swallowed by his own anger, it was threatening to cloud his judgement so he had to make a special effort to be sure that he was thinking straight enough to make safe decisions. Contacting the League sounded like a definitively safe decision, so that was precisely what he was going to do.

"Rob?" Wally questioned as Robin walked over to the Bat-cave's supercomputer and started to type quickly on the keyboard before him. Robin's typing faltered briefly before he continued silently, only when he got the end of the line he was writing did Robin look up and meet Wally's eyes. Wally was stunned by the calm exterior he was somehow pulling off when the speedster knew very well that it was definitely not the case on the inside. But he knew that above anything else right now, Robin probably just wanted to get Batman back, so he asked only what he needed to and nothing more, "What are you doing? Can we do anything?"

Robin turned back to his typing with a shrug, his fingers dancing across the keyboard. He seemed to be thinking about Wally's second question for a while before he suddenly spoke during his typing, not missing a tap, "I'm contacting the League so that anyone who can get here, gets here quick. In the mean time, you guys can contact Agent A again on the other computer and see where he's at in his research so far. Ask _him_ what you can do for now, and thanks."

As the others nodded and went to crowd around the other computer occupying the Bat-cave, Kaldur spared Robin a small smile. When he was put under serious pressure, the kid turned into a really great leader. It seemed that despite his young age, Robin was more ready than they had initially believed to take over the Team as leader. The thought filled Kaldur with odd warmth that he supposed was pride, that and perhaps a bit of relief since being a leader was such a heavy responsibility and to be honest he would be glad when he could pass it on to another more capable than him. Then, with another smile, Kaldur walked in the direction of the other computer just as Agent A's blurred face popped up on the screen and began to report his current findings: which seemed to sum to nothing.

In the mean time, Robin had managed to get in contact with three League members who were available to help. Three was better than he had dared to hope for; it was Flash, Green Arrow and Superman. Each of them had promised to arrive at the Bat-cave within the hour and robin breathed a sigh of relief before expressing his thanks to the three of them. Robin felt a sense of dread whenever he thought about what might have happened to Batman overnight and he was hard pressed to push the feelings aside and keep a clear head in order to rescue the dark knight if necessary. With League members on their way, Robin walked over to where his Team were helping Alfred in his search for Batman.

"Master Robin, all evidence of the last transmission I received from Batman points to his having been captured by Tony Zucco. However I have been unable to track his communicator, it seems to have been turned off or destroyed." Alfred explained. Robin nodded, so it was true, Zucco did mean to rid Robin of the last of his family. The protégé's stomach dropped in anxiety at the clarified news, but then Robin remembered something.

"You can track dead technology if you know the codes that the company who produced it used." Robin said as though thinking the idea through himself. Bruce owned Wayne Enterprises and so all of the gadgets he used came from that company. Being the owner of that company, Bruce and Dick had access to the codes for everything associated with the company. The others would simply think that it was Robin being a technology ninja as usual and would not suspect that there was actually a link between the technology's codes and his secret identity. Alfred however did not know these codes and so, instead of attempting to do it himself, he simply sent the necessary data to the computer Kaldur was sat at and told Robin that had better do it.

Kaldur moved aside and let Robin enter the codes, eyes widening when he saw the complexity that went into the whole process. Even Wally, a smart guy if he did say so himself, couldn't understand half of what was being written into the computer. After a while, Robin sat back and wiggled his fingers as they had become sore from typing so quickly for so long, and waited for something to happen. But then after a few minutes a screen popped up with a map on it and a spot that indicated where the technology was. That was either where Batman actually was, or it was a good place to start.

The three League members entered the cave just as Robin was pulling up information on where exactly that spot on a map was. Flash sped straight over to Robin and starting asking question at such a speed that no one but Wally could understand him. Wally chose this moment to slap a hand to his forehead in exasperation and call out to his uncle, "Dude, no one can hear you when you sound like a freaking humming bird."

With that Flash silenced himself and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with a grin on his face that belonged on a child at least fifteen years his junior. Wally couldn't help but smile at his uncle, the man was always so cheerful and unknowingly funny. He provided the perfect contrast to Robin who didn't look impressed; in fact he looked the spitting image of Batman in his lack of emotions. Although the whole Team knew exactly how he was feeling on the inside, they wanted nothing more than to talk to him about it but whilst his mentor was in trouble, Robin would never be able to focus on anything but that.

Green Arrow could see through straight through Robin, much like he could often see straight through Batman when something was wrong. So, seeing that the kid needed a chance to let the tough news settle in he walked over to Robin and ordered him to move so that the senior heroes could take over. It had to be an order, otherwise Robin would never move. So with an angry glance in Oliver's direction, Robin got up from the chair and told them what he had gotten so far and then proceeded to walk back over to the comfy chairs where he had been sat all night long. The Young Justice team were quite happy to leave the research to the League members and followed Robin to the chairs. Green Arrow was satisfied that Robin would be well taken care of and then got to work seeing what the chances were the Batman may be contained where his communicator was.

"Are you okay, Robin?" M'Gann couldn't help but ask. She still had her barrier against Robin's emotions up, so she was no longer affected by his feelings, but she could still feel a dull indication of how Robin was feeling. It was clear that Robin was still thoroughly shaken and worried out of his mind. At the stupid question Wally rolled his eyes and sat down next to the young ninja, putting an arm over his shoulders. The others watched as Robin gave a small sigh and leaned into the speedster. The rest of the Team decided to distances themselves a little further away than Wally had, they didn't want Robin to feel cornered. They couldn't help but notice the shakes gently rocking their youngest member's body. Whether they were born of anger or fear they didn't know.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kaldur asked Robin with sincerity. They would have at least fifteen minutes before the senior heroes got _anything_ of worth, and even fifteen minutes would be a start. They all wanted to know what was going on in Robin's head so that they could better judge how to treat him or even better how to help him. Robin looked at Kaldur; his friends really were the most incredible people, even in a pressurised situation such as this one they were all willing to help Robin get some stress off of his chest.

"Actually, that would – that would be great." Robin said in a small voice. With that, the others settled in and waited for Robin to start talking. Robin sat up out of Wally's grip and nodded slowly as though thinking what he would say through before he actually said any of it. But after brief consideration, Robin began, "You don't have to say anything, just listening will help. So don't feel like you have to give me advice or anything like that."

"Okay." The word was unanimous and Robin gave a weak smile. As the others were watching him intently, Robin felt the need to break eye contact and look down at the ground so that he could just speak without seeing what people were thinking of him. Seeing the discomfort of the young acrobat, Artemis felt the need to coax him to speak again, "Go ahead, we're here to listen."

"Okay, well, I don't really know where to start. The last few days have been – horrible," Robin started, his voice was quiet but there was still an audible wobble in his voice. Superman could hear everything going on, but he was gladder than anything else that Robin was talking whatever was on his mind out with his team. Robin continued, feeling his cheeks redden in embarrassment, "I can't help but feel like everything I get too close to breaks. I loved my family more than anything else in the whole world, but when they were threatened I just stepped back and let it happen. It w_as_ my fault and nothing you could say would ever change my mind about that, it's something I have to live with. But now, I got close to Batman and I knew who he was after, but still I didn't force myself to go and help. Again I just let it happen. This is my fault too, and if anything happens to him I don't know if I could handle that kind of loss again."

The Young Justice team knew that a lot was going on and they knew that Robin was stressed, but the fact that he was blaming himself for all of it just broke their hearts. Wally felt slightly annoyed at Robin blaming himself when it was so blatantly not his fault, but he didn't voice anything because Robin wasn't done yet. Robin spent a moment or two fighting tears back before he felt ready to talk again, "So I have insomnia, I've gone three days on three hours sleep total, the past two nights I haven't slept at all. Then yesterday I couldn't control myself, anger, sadness, fear, it was all spinning around in my head and it needed to come out but I just – I didn't know where to put it. Batman was treating me like he didn't even care and that was making me crazy. He kept secrets from me, he kept a secret from me that he promised he never would and now he's probably hurt."

Robin then buried his head in his arms as his tears spilled over and he started to cry. Just as Wally put an arm around him and rubbed his should in comfort, Robin picked up his head and gave his team a tiny smile, "You should probably run away because I'm getting too close to you as well. You'll end up just like everyone else I love." Robin's voice cracked on that last note and Wally pulled him closer into a proper hug. Suddenly, the Young Justice team felt that they had reached some sort of an understanding. If Robin had felt this way since they had met, that would explain why he seemed to distance himself from them so much, why he hid behind that cheeky exterior. Robin didn't want to get close to his team because he was afraid of losing them.

Everyone was at quite a loss for words, how exactly _should_ they respond to Robin's thoughts. He clearly had a lot going on in his head, but what words could possibly sooth such thoughts? As it turned out, nobody needed to say anything because Wally had it covered, "Don't tell me what to do." Wally laughed. Robin seemed a little taken aback by the fact that Wally was laughing and wiped his eyes dry in bewilderment. He stared at Wally, as did the rest of the Team. How would laughing at Robin solve anything? Wally ruffled Robin's hair affectionately and smiled at him, "I'll stick around if I want to, and you know perfectly well how hard it is to get rid of me!"

"That's true. He's like a cockroach; he would probably survive an atomic bomb if it meant he didn't have to leave." Artemis said with a blunt bite to her words. Robin gave a giggle at the resuming war between Wally and Artemis. When would they just stop fighting and admit that they actually loved each other's company? Artemis smiled in triumph when she heard Robin's familiar laugh, even though she didn't realise that he was laughing _at_ her rather than with her.

"That was so uncalled for! Here I am trying to cheer up Rob, and there you go again insulting me like I'm not even standing right here!" Wally complained with truth ringing in his words. Artemis felt slightly guilty for saying what she had, but she valued her own pride more than Wally's feelings so rather than apologising like any other person would have, she just continued the argument. This allowed a chance for Connor, M'Gann and Kaldur to move closer to Robin who was visibly cheering up. It was good to see a genuine smile gracing his face for the first time in a good many hours.

"Robin, although they put it in the most childish way that seems possible, I know Wally and Artemis were just trying to let you know that we are here and we aren't going anywhere." Kaldur summarised. As Robin looked at the three of them, Kaldur's face remained as sincere as it had been the whole time, Connor gave a short nod of confirmation and even attempted to soften his face a little bit, and M'Gann just smile with her hands clasped in front of her as though she was trying to hold back in giving Robin the biggest hug that he had ever recieved. Warmth filled the thirteen year old and he almost felt better, but then he remembered that Batman was still captured. But just as his thoughts took a more dark turn once again, Green Arrow announced that they had come to a conclusion.

The Team returned to the computers where the saw multiple files left open on the computer, probably so that they could show the Young Justice team the necessary files as they reported their new information. Robin sat the closest to the screens, a look of focus and hard determination on his face. Green Arrow reported, "We found evidence that Batman is in the same place as his communicator, namely, when we looked through the surveillance footage at the coordinates on the map, were found no 'debris' left behind after Batman was captured. He put up one hell of a fight."

"You mean you saw him?" Connor asked, looking to Superman for the answer although it was provided by Flash instead. Connor seethed at the clear rejection and almost felt like doing a Robin and punching him in the face. But, unlike Batman, Superman didn't even like Connor so it was likely that if he even managed to land a punch, the punishment would be far greater than a hurt look. Connor was just some clone, a version of Superman that nobody ever expected or, for that matter, wanted. Robin may have had a traumatic past, but at least he had a good-looking future. Connor's past was bleak and blurry and his future left a lot to be desired. So far, all he could see was crime-fighting. Maybe he wanted to do more, nobody ever thought of that though.

"Yes, we saw him," Flash answered, pulling Connor out of his thoughts. Flash winced and continued, "Which brings us to our next point. He was absolutely horrifically outnumbered, which makes perfect sense seeing how Zucco is a crime boss. But still, there were others, Clayface and the like." Several jaws dropped at this development. Robin however remained completely steeled; he had a strong sense of foreboding about him and knew on instinct that there was worse information. Flash continued, now keeping a constant eye on Robin, "We know where Batman is, and we know that there are a lot of opponents to fight before we can get to him. But the thing is Batman appears to have been injured quite severely. He will need to be taken to a hospital as soon as we rescue him," Flash paused and waited for Robin's scared eyes to meet his before he said, "And we _will_ rescue him."

Robin's eyes narrowed and he frowned in fury. Flash was right, Robin would rescue Batman. But after that, when Robin found Zucco, there was going to be hell to pay for this.

_**Okaaaaay! Well then, that's that chapter gone and out of the way. **_

_**Let me know if you spot any mistakes so I can get rid of them, I'll read this chapter through at a later date, probably after the big move to England. Thanks in advance! :D**_

_**One more planned! The big finale! Do review and let me know how you think this chapter went, and don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile page!**_

_**More reviews please guys, I only got one on the last chapter and that didn't give me much to go on in terms of whether you were still enjoying it or not. I need you to let me know whether you liked it or not otherwise I can't know whether I should stop the story or change how I'm writing or what!**_

_**Anyways, thanks for reading because the amount of viewers has been fantastic and I'll see you next time for the final chapter in this story!**_

_**Thanks a lot, Varishi x**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**THE FINAL CHAPTER HAS ARRIVED! Hah, who's ready to rescue Batman!? Nice long chapter now to wrap it all up. I didn't end up getting the chance to upload this before I moved house so this has now become the very first chapter to be written from my new home in England! Sorry for the wait though :(**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed this story, it's been my pleasure entertaining you and I hope you enjoy this last bit! Don't forget to vote on the poll for the story you want next!**_

_**Replies to reviews:**_

_**starwarsfan15**__**: Thanks for the support; I hope you enjoy this chapter now!**_

_**ArkieR**__**: I know right!? England woo! What sort of part of England do you live in? I moved to the south! Have you heard about those horrible storms and the flood warnings? Please be aware and be safe wherever you are. Thanks a lot I'm so glad you like the story and I'll update ASAP!**_

_**BlueJayRobin**__**: Thanks a lot, and this is the last chapter so I hope you like! (Loving the name by the way.) **_

_**Actually, as it goes, any readers in the UK can you please make sure that you know whether there is a flood warning where you are! Unfortunately there have already been a lot of evacuations and things aren't looking good in some areas. So please, be safe and be careful.**_

_**To the story!**_

"Before we go flying in blindly, we should have a rough sort of plan," Superman said with an anxious glance in Robin's direction. The thirteen year old was clearly furious and without _some _guidance he worried that Robin would be a danger to himself and his team. Superman understood Robin's anger, but he knew there was something extra that was eating away at him. Not knowing Robin's past, he couldn't possibly have known the involvement he had with Tony Zucco in his younger years. Superboy meanwhile directed his anger at the man he had been cloned from, Superman was throwing all of his concern at Robin. Why wouldn't the Kryptonian just at the very least acknowledge the clone's existence? Why wouldn't he say _something_? Superman ignored the death stare being sent his way by someone he didn't want to believe was still there and continued, "We don't have time for anything fancy so let's just do this quick and get Batman out of there."

Robin agreed easily and with only his mentor in his mind, he tried his hardest to focus so that the planning process would be as short and sweet as it possibly could be. Robin thought over the information that he had been presented with quickly and then pitched a few ideas to the Team and League members, "There are a lot of opponents to think about, so it would be best if we stayed together and watched each other's backs. Stealth is definitely out of the window, they'll know we're coming and they'll be ready. There are three storeys to the building, so after things have died down it would be a good idea to split into groups of three and search each floor methodically."

Flash nodded with a smile, seeing easily why Batman should be so proud and protective of his protégé. Robin truly was something special. This was a team-work task though, the best strategist they had was captured and so he wasn't there to advise them. Flash contributed only what he knew, "When we split up, we should evenly distribute the skill sets, strengths and weaknesses so that if we get into a difficult situation we have a higher chance of fixing it." Robin snapped his fingers before pointing at Flash, telling the speedster in red that he had almost forgotten about 'that part'. Green Arrow took the new silence as his opportunity to contribute something useful.

"If Batman is hurt, then there should be at least one person on each Team with decent medical knowledge. Who actually knows a little bit more than the basic first aid here?" Green Arrow asked. He raised his own hand in the air which prompted a few others to do the same. The ones with their hands raised were himself, Robin, Connor, Artemis and Kaldur. Five – indivisible by three but that didn't matter. Green Arrow put his hands on his hips in thought momentarily before nodding sharply, "Okay, well I'm comfortable enough with my knowledge to be the only one on my team with higher medical expertise, so you others can pair up."

"I think we should have Flash, Wally and myself on separate teams too," M'Gann piped up in an audible, but squeaking voice. Connor looked at her admiringly, she had always been afraid of voicing her own opinions – especially when there were League members around – but it seemed that to help someone in need, she had conquered her inhibitions. He was proud. M'Gann continued when the others looked at her questioningly, "It's just that, well, if Batman really needs medical attention as soon as possible, then he should have access to people who can get him to a hospital as quickly as possible." M'Gann suggested whilst tapping her index fingers together and keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Good thinking, M'Gann." Green Arrow praised. The Martian glowed happily in return. Robin even shot her a smile, even during everything that was happening that would leave M'Gann trembling in a corner in her room, Robin had smiled. Not only that, but he had directed his smile at her. M'Gann stood a little bit taller, nourished by that tiny bit of positive attention that she had received. Robin then dropped his smile almost as quickly as he had picked it up and he began to think about Team divisions, what would be the best way? After some consideration and careful adjustments, Robin felt that he had come up with a good combination.

"I'm thinking that Superman, Kaldur and Artemis should go together, that way we have speed, flight and medical skills grouped. Then Flash, M'Gann and Green Arrow for pretty much the same reasons and then last me, Superboy and KF. I'm the closest we have left to flight, and I have the medical skill. Then there's Superboy for strength and KF for speed." Robin concluded, pointing to each person as he voiced their names. Nobody had any argument with their teams; Robin had even managed to separate the people who might distract each other. But he wasn't quite done yet, there was one more thing to say, "Batman is the priority right now, we need to get him out and safe. Only then do we decide how to find and capture Zucco, okay? He's dangerous, if you see him and Batman is out and safe then by all means engage, but do not engage _alone_."

"Well then," said Superman with a glint to his eyes, "Suit up. We've got work to do." It was such a cheesy line, but when Superman had said it, he had said it like he was just going out to buy some food or something. He said those words like they meant almost nothing to him and that made the line less cheesy, in fact it gave the Young Justice team an insight into the Kryptonian's mind. The tone of voice that he had used suggested to the Team that he was a little bit bored of crime and longed for it all to stop, for it to end and give way to peace. But everyone knew that wouldn't happen, and with that finalising thought, they all followed Robin who said that he had back up suits in storage somewhere for situations such as this. Or to put it another way: in case of emergency.

It was barely a few minutes before the Young Justice team were dressed in their hero garb and were ready to depart. The Bio-ship once again proved useful as there was nothing else that would manage to carry all nine of them. The aircraft to the cave's left would carry four people, but even if they did decided to take it, Robin was the only one other than Batman who could pilot it. So, sitting in their own seats and having the seatbelts buckles themselves around each body, M'Gann asked the ship to take her to the co-ordinates that she then entered in and soon they were speeding off to where Robin hoped Batman would still be alive. The journey seemed too long and was uncomfortable for the worried young acrobat, but still, he knew that complaining would not make the Bio-ship fly any faster and so he kept his mouth shut. But his unease was still obvious amongst everyone else in the ship.

"Is Robin going to be alright? This mission is heavily personal after all." Kaldur asked in a whisper whilst leaning towards Wally who sat in the nearest chair to his right. The two of them, and Connor who had overheard, spared a troubled glance in Robin's direction. The boy's hands were clenched tightly into fists and it was obvious that he had a lot going on in his head, but honestly Wally believed that if Batman – the closest thing that Robin had to family anymore – was in danger, then Robin would easily be able to rise to the challenge and carry out whatever task necessary to see him safe again. Robin was just that sort of person, the kind who had their priorities in such a strict and perfect order that it was hard to deter them from their personal mission. In other words, Robin was stubborn.

"He'll be fine Aqualad," Kid Flash insisted back. He locked eyes with the Atlantean and saw the worry in them, not just for Robin but for the rest of the Team as well – including the senior heroes who were accompanying them. Kid Flash rolled his eyes dramatically and gave a world weary sigh as he chuckled nervously, "Look, Rob might be personally involved in this mission and he might have had a really bad few days, but he's not the kind of person who is going to let his feelings get in the way and ruin a mission that will save Batman!" Wally's voice had gotten progressively louder and louder as his annoyance showed in his words. Robin bristled a few seats away and that was when Wally realised that he could hear everything being said. He knew that his team were beginning to question his capability.

"Are you _sure_ about that though, Kid Idiot?" Artemis demanded in a quiet, hissing voice. It was true; she had been worried about Robin's involvement in this mission as well. But instead of arguing with her as she had been expecting him too, Wally simply raised a finger to his lips and jerked his head towards Robin. When Artemis shifted her gaze to Robin, she saw his grave face and knew that it had been heard, the damage had been done. Robin knew what his Team were thinking now and there was nothing that the Team could do to take it back. Well, not without invading the privacy of his own mind they couldn't.

Was that what they thought? Did Robin's team not trust him to push his feelings aside and get on with it? The thirteen year old had thought that his teammates understood. But clearly they hadn't gotten the whole picture, Robin had been pushing his feelings aside and carrying out missions effectively for years, what made this mission any different? The only difference was that Batman's life was on the line, and that was it. Kaldur doubted him, Artemis doubted him, he was sure that the others felt the same. The only one he knew didn't doubt him was Wally, and that thought was enough to give him comfort. Rather than taking offense, Robin decided that he would _show_ his team that he could handle the pressure. He would show the team that he was worthy of their trust, he would show Batman that he was wrong to keep Robin from helping him. He would prove himself.

The Bio-ship landed gracefully on the concrete outside a large office building. Surprisingly enough, it didn't look as though it were abandoned. There were lights on in all the offices bar the very top floor and people – seemingly ordinary civilians – visibly walked around with stacks of paper in their arms, or sat at a desk typing away at their desktop computers. As the heroes exited the Bio-ship and read the title of the company printed in big bold letters across the enormous building at the very top just below the roof. When researching, the senior heroes had just thought that the title was just a cover up, but apparently not. This was an actual, functioning company, with their own delivery trucks waiting to be dispatched and everything. To be specific, '_Gotham Printing and Graphic Design Ltd_' was a functioning company.

But it was a functioning company building that somewhere inside held Batman. So, remembering the plan even though things weren't as expected, the group rearranged themselves into their smaller groups and then headed together straight for the front doors. As soon as they entered the building, several faces whipped up in confusion to see their strange visitors and there were a few moments of pure emptiness as the heroes considered turning around and leaving because they had the wrong place. But then they attacked, en masse. Every employer, employee, intern or the like, _everyone_, ran straight at the heroes and began to attack them. Some drew guns from their pockets, others grabbed crowbars that were lying in hiding places amongst potted plants and photocopiers. _Now_ the heroes, both senior and junior, understood how Batman had been captured. The whole company building must have been employed by Zucco, and Zucco had been hiding in plain sight.

The whole ensemble had been frozen in a collective shock for a moment or two until a gunshot was heard and Kid Flash had to literally dodge a bullet. It was only then that everyone was snapped out of their stupor and came to the conclusion that these civilians weren't civilians and were all actually working for Tony Zucco. In the chaos, keeping track of the small groups of three was impossible, everyone was far too busy trying to defend themselves, let alone strike back.

Green Arrow shifted to Artemis' position and then covered her back as she covered his. The two of them fought in perfect sync, as Artemis drew an arrow from her quiver, Green Arrow would mirror that action by kicking or punching away any enemies immediately nearby her. Then, likewise, Artemis would cover her mentor when he drew his arrows. They had defeated three employees already; they were lying unconscious on the ground at the duo's feet and yet more and more kept on coming. It was clear then that there were also more people upstairs that were now rushing down to help with the invasion downstairs. An idea hatched in Artemis' head at that point after that realisation, if they were all heading downstairs to help; then there were significantly less people upstairs which meant that it would be easier for someone to search up there. However, Artemis couldn't yet suggest such an idea as another five men with crowbars approached her and Green Arrow with the intent of attacking.

After seeing everyone else burst into action, Kid Flash had taken off at a rapid speed to snatch as many weapons from their users as he could. Then, following his footsteps closely, Flash echoed behind his nephew and proceeded to send a hard, fast punch at whoever was left without a weapon. That was going well, until an unseen crowbar was slammed into Kid Flash's right shin and sent him tumbling to the ground violently. Flash soon took care of the assailant and then sprinted to see if Kid Flash was alright. Wally looked dizzy, but otherwise unharmed. Although Flash was quite certain a large nasty bruise would make itself known later. Flash stuck a hand out which Wally grabbed gratefully and hauled his nephew to his feet. The speedster in yellow wavered, but then steadied himself and didn't even stop to look at his uncle before speeding off once again in a determined manner. _That's my boy,_ Flash thought, swelling with pride.

After seeing Kid Flash tumble head over heels, crashing into desks and other _hard_ looking objects, M'Gann had paused what she was doing and cried out Wally's name in her mind in fear. But then as she saw Flash run to him, she knew that he was in good hands and so she turned and met Superman's gaze once more before resuming what she had been doing. Superman shot at crowbars, guns and knives alike with his heat vision, causing the people holding them to cry out in pain and drop the burning objects. This then prompted M'Gann to pick them up with her telekinesis and then safely deposit them out of reach in a little nook that sat close to the highly risen ceiling. This meant that those on the ground would have an easier time fighting their opponents. Kaldur was doing a good job electrocuting his opponents with his water whips. That is until M'Gann spotted someone swing a large hammer over their head with the intention of crushing Aqualad's skull with it. M'Gann gave a squeak of terror and subconsciously lifted Aqualad from the ground and into the safe air. The result being that the hammer slammed down on another assailant's head instead.

Robin and Superboy had unknowingly paired up with one another. Superboy was charging straight at his attacker's, using his near-invincible body as a shield and using his brute force to knock out a human in one punch. Robin in the mean time used Superboy's strong shoulders and back as a sort of spring board and vantage point. He would leap off of Superboy's back and kick several people expertly in the time it took for him to travel from his teammate's shoulders to the ground. Superboy was secretly amused that Robin was using him as though he was a tree or something similar, but he would never admit it. He would probably not even remember thinking so after all of the conflict was over. However, Connor and Robin were distracted in their fight when they heard Artemis' voice above the sound of fighting and their opponent's shouting like banshees.

"Robin! Superboy!" Artemis called. The archer soon saw that she had both boys' attentions and she signalled to M'Gann to set up a telepathic mind-link. Once connected, it became far easier for the team to interact with each other and for the other team member's to understand who was doing what to help win the battle. But more importantly was Artemis' voice, "They're all emptying the upstairs areas to come down here and fight, now's your chance! Go and search for Batman and we'll stay and keep them busy!" Artemis commanded. Even in her thoughts she sounded quite breathless, Robin didn't feel right leaving them all alone.

"But Artemis, you all sound tired as it is. You're going to need all of the help that you can get!" Robin argued whilst punctuating his point by punching a man in the face and letting him fall limp at his feet. Flash, Superman and Green Arrow would have intervened in the argument, but they were still trying to get used to the feeling of the mind-link. They had been linked together telepathically by Martian Manhunter before, but when it was done by a different Martian it felt different. It felt uncomfortable actually and they needed to take a bit of time to get used to the foreign minds occupying their heads before they could settle any arguments.

"Robin, go. Batman could be in more trouble than we are and I'm sure we can handle a few minutes without you. Just go!" Artemis shouted, trying to sound more forceful this time. Robin and Superboy dropped the men that they were holding, looked at each other and nodded once before running to the stairwell that the two of them had fought their way past earlier. As Superboy started up the stairs, Robin paused and looked back at his friends. The sight was horrendous, Robin recalled seeing images of rioting around Gotham, and the people who were attacking his friends now had the same aggression and disorderly conduct as the rioters had. Still, Artemis was right, they could manage and Batman was still in danger somewhere. So turning his back on the scene, Robin followed Superboy up the stairs and then looked at the near empty floor spread out in front of him.

How was Robin supposed to find Batman in this huge building? It was open plan, so there were no rooms, just desks, so really it should have been easy to see Batman. But it was always possible that there was a hidden room, or it could have been that Batman was on the floor above. The only floor that hadn't had any lights turned on. The few people that had remained upstairs charged for Robin and Superboy, and in response the two of them sank into completely different stances. Superboy immediately puffing up to look more dangerous, and Robin holding an arm diagonally across his body in the defensive position drummed into him by Batman. As the men grew closer and closer, two pairs of sharp eyes calculated their most likely moves and adjusted themselves accordingly. The henchmen had never stood a chance, Robin and Superboy made quick work of them.

Robin had been just about to raise his question of how to find Batman aloud, but just when he opened his mouth Superboy lifted a finger to his lips and cocked his head to the side. Robin remained silent and quickly deduced that Superboy was listening to something. Suddenly, the older teenager's eyes narrowed perceptively and he nodded to Robin to follow him, _quietly._ Of course, Robin was a master of stealth and so, quietly was not a problem for him. In fact, Robin felt far more comfortable in the darkness and the silence when he was in a bad mood, and the mood that he was in at that moment was definitely a bad one.

"It's hard to separate the noise downstairs from the noise upstairs," Superboy whispered. He suddenly straightened as he heard another noise and slammed Robin against a wall before peeking around the corner. Some more henchmen had descended another set of stairs over the other side of the room, they took a long look around the second floor with scrutinising eyes before being satisfied that there was nothing out of order there – happily missing the other henchmen that Superboy had dropped behind a desk – and proceeding to move downstairs to where the intruders were. Superboy breathed out a sigh of relief and then let go of Robin before continuing, "But I _can_ hear something. I think it's Batman. But there's another voice too."

At the report of there being another voice, Robin knew who Superboy thought it was. Tony Zucco. His eyes darkened when he thought of what Zucco could be doing to his mentor, his hero. Robin clenched his fists in an attempt to keep some of the anger that he was flooding with from showing on his face. But apparently it wasn't working as well as he was hoping it would. Superboy bent over so that their faces were levels and looked behind Robin's mask and into his eyes sternly. Superboy softened his voice the best that he could, he _needed_ Robin to hear him, he needed to get through to the younger hero, "Robin, if that is Zucco, _please_ just don't lose yourself. It's – It's not worth it. Trust me, I would know." Superboy could only hope that Robin had listened to him, but the younger hero seemed dumb-struck at the fact that Superboy had actually just given _him_ advice.

"If you know, Supes, then you know that I can't promise anything," Robin stated. It was true, Superboy knew exactly what Robin meant, but he could still hope. Robin then pointed at the darkness of the stairway ahead and started up the stairs, "Come on! Batman needs us!" Superboy stared after him for a moment, marvelling at the control he seemed to possess, and then followed him up and into the darkness. Thankfully, Superboy could see quite affectively in the dark and Robin had spent most of his time in the dark so the two of them were perfect for this sort of atmosphere. However, as it turned out the top floor of the building was not totally in the dark. There was one failing light-bulb flickering in the middle of the ceiling.

Robin froze and had to swallow his tears at the sight that was before him. Superboy moved to Robin's side and his eyes widened in shock. Batman was directly below the flickering light in the centre of the top floor; he was in a crumpled heap on the floor and was taking in deep shaky breaths, Robin had seen Batman in this state before, but it never became any easier. Robin's thoughts flashed to the huge mob of people on the ground floor and couldn't help but picture one man going up against all of them _and_ Zucco himself. Even the team that had assembled for the rescue mission was still fighting them all downstairs, so no wonder Batman had fallen. Robin scanned the floor carefully for the 'other voice', but whoever it was they must have scarpered. So Robin shook his head in an effort to clear his thoughts, "Superboy, cover me!" Robin shouted over his shoulder as he ran frantically towards his mentor. Superboy lurched forward speedily, scrutinising his surroundings as he ran in case of danger – or worse, Zucco.

Robin felt his dread grow as he raced to Batman; he slid to a stop next to the dark knight and then pulled his shoulder so that he was laying flat on his back. The Bat let out a pained grunt, but when his masked eyes met Robin's he felt hopeful despite himself. The last person he wanted to put in danger was Robin, _his_ Robin. But as he took in his ward's worried expression he couldn't help himself but feel relieved, and safe. Even after everything that had happened between the two of them, Robin had still come to his rescue. There was a pain in Batman's chest the young teen rolled him over, evidence of the maniacal beating that he had endured however long ago that was. Robin quickly looked Batman over, he had definitely broken a few bones, and there was no way he was _walking_ out of here, he needed to be carried by the look of his leg. Further examination suggested a few broken ribs and he was bleeding from somewhere, possibly his head, but it was still too dark to tell, even with the dreary light directly above the two of them.

Remembering that he could connect with M'Gann's thoughts and ask her to set up another mind-link, the thirteen year old focused hard on making M'Gann hear him. The panic that Robin was feeling in his bones was suppressed as he recalled Batman's teachings on what he should do in this situation, stay calm and get the injured to help as soon as possible. Soon enough, Robin heard M'Gann's voice in his head, "Robin, shall I set up a mind-link?" She asked immediately. Robin confirmed his request, eyes still fixed unwaveringly on Bruce's chest as it shakily and unevenly rose and fell weakly. He needed help and fast, so basically, he needed Flash. M'Gann's voice appeared again, "Okay Robin, go ahead."

"Superboy and I have found Batman. It – It looks bad, I haven't been able to examine him properly yet but we need to get him out of here and get him medical help. This could be life and death." Robin rushed through his words fretfully, he had began to sound even more panicked towards the end of his speech because Batman's eyes suddenly left his face and his head slumped to the floor as he fell unconscious. Superboy had turned around from the part of the room he was at that moment patrolling and stared at Batman worriedly. Forgetting his job, Superboy strolled over to the Bat and patted Robin's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way. Robin seemed to appreciate the support.

"Understood, Flash and I are on our way. We'll take him to the Watchtower and take further action from there," Superman said quickly. Robin gave a sigh of relief; Superman and Flash were both fast and would get him help quickly and also by now Wonder Woman and Aquaman would be at the Watchtower – returned from their respective previous engagements, as Robin understood – and the two of them had a good medical knowledge. Superman continued further, "There are still quite a lot of people to fight on the base level, so you and Superboy will need to replace Flash and I. We have alerted the authorities and they are expected to arrive in fifteen minutes to half an hour."

Robin simply nodded despite the fact that no one could see him apart from Superboy. He waited at Batman's side until Flash and Superman arrived. The two senior heroes looked distressed at the site of their friend and strategist, but rather than stopping to take everything in, Superman simply stooped to pick up the unconscious Bat and then proceeded to jump out of the nearest window with him. Flash stared after them with wide eyes before pointing at the window and shouting after Superman melodramatically, "I wouldn't jump out of a third storey window after you if you paid me! I'll catch up I'm so going the long way." With that, Flash was gone in a red blur as he headed downstairs and probably straight past the fight and out of the front doors.

The moment Robin saw that Batman, Superman and Flash were clear of the building he made his way back downstairs to help his team and Green Arrow to get rid of the rest of the henchmen. Superboy immediately followed him without question; the two of them quickly descended both floors and fell back into combat, using each other for cover once more. As soon as they were noticed, several opponents approached them with knives and crowbars and the like, Robin worked on trying to disarm them whilst Superboy engaged with brute strength as usual. The two of them made a good pair, but Robin was not at his best – he was filled with fury at what Zucco had done to his would-be father and was concerned for Bruce's life. He wasn't focused.

That is, Robin wasn't focused until he spotted a familiar face amongst the crowd of fighters. Then he lost all coherent thought completely and his fists dropped to his sides, his eyes were wide as he stared at the man just a few feet away from him. The man who killed his family, the man who almost killed Bruce: Zucco was here, armed with a crowbar that was coated in blood that probably belonged to Bruce. Zucco seemed to sense that someone was watching him intently and turned around slowly, his eyes finally meeting Robin's. The acrobat's rage grew in his stomach as Zucco's lips pulled away from his teeth into a cross between a vicious sneer and a mocking grin – Robin swore he saw red for a moment as he fought the urge to kill that man just for smiling.

Robin seemed to forget that there was anyone else in the room at all at that moment, and time seemed to slow down as Connor turned to him and demanded to know what he was doing. But then, _everything_ just spilled right over and Robin lurched forward into a sprint to meet the waiting Zucco in combat. Connor saw who Robin was running towards, only recognising Zucco from the powerful memories of his face being shot through his head on the mind-link, and shouted for Robin to wait. Connor once again was shot in the back by another person and reluctantly tore his gaze from Robin and instead refocused on his own battles.

Robin clashed with Zucco violently and smacked a strong right hook into Zucco's jaw and delivered a round-house kick to his ribs before Zucco grabbed his left upper arm and used his momentum to throw him through a window to his left. Robin covered his face instinctively as he crashed through the glass and rolled across the concrete outside the building. The acrobat felt a series of sharp pains as glass stuck itself into his arms and back, but instead of lingering on the pain Robin jumped to his feet and quickly dodged to his left as Zucco threw a stray piece of glass at his face. The rest of the Team were still busy with the still appearing from other parts of the building opponents that they were faced with inside. So that meant it was just Tony Zucco and not Robin, but Richard Grayson. Was it wrong that he liked it that way? Zucco regarded him coolly as he climbed out of the window after his next _victim_.

"Well circus boy it's been a while. You've grown." Zucco said with a sinister laugh that made Robin shudder visibly. He _remembered_ that laugh. He'd had nightmares about that laugh. When did Tony Zucco figure out his secret identity? Batman had hinted that he had figured it out the previous day, but Robin had assumed he meant that Zucco was searching for Richard Grayson, not Robin. Zucco and Robin began to circle, both in anticipation of a sudden attack to gain the upper hand. Zucco laughed even harder at the look on Robin's face, "Don't look so surprised Grayson! It wasn't hard to figure out who you were; and you got me thrown away in prison, I owe you pain for that."

"You owe _me_ pain?" Robin snapped aggressively back. Then he let out a signature cackle that seemed to make Zucco slightly uncomfortable. Robin glared at the crime lord, "I've suffered like you wouldn't believe and it's _all_ down to you. You completely broke everything that I am!" Robin shouted at him. Zucco didn't even seem to have listened but instead raised his crowbar and ran at Robin; although the dark knight's protégé saw the raised crowbar as more of an opening than a threat. He grabbed the raised arm and kneed Zucco in the stomach before he brought the suddenly weakened arm down to his level and hit the wrist hard so that the crime lord would drop his weapon. It was affective, Zucco dropped the crowbar and it fell next to Robin's feet with a loud clang. Robin kicked the reddened metal away with his foot and kneed Zucco in the stomach again.

Once the crowbar was out of reach, Zucco seemed to feel more vulnerable and increased the ferocity of his attacks. He flipped his body around so that he could twist Robin's arm painfully up his back and then wrap his other free arm around Robin's neck and cut off the boy's airway. Robin panicked at the lack of air before his thoughts could clear and used his free arm to desperately grab at the strong arm cutting off his air, he felt his head growing heavy before he realised that he needed to get out of his assailant's grip before he was killed just like his parents. Robin still had that free arm, so instead of futilely using it to struggle against the impenetrable grip around his neck, Robin elbowed Zucco as hard as he could manage in the gut. Zucco's grip around Robin's neck barely loosened, but his grip on the teen's other arm did loosen considerably. So Robin pulled his arm down sharply and got both arms free, then he turned his body so that he was facing Zucco and brought his feet up onto Zucco's legs so that he could push off hard and escape the older man's grip.

Zucco stumbled backwards, still holding his assaulted stomach in pain. Robin fell to the ground wheezing for breath and coughing harshly. That was way too close. Robin climbed to his feet shakily and wavered slightly as his oxygen deprived brain felt heavy, his neck feeling bruised and restricted. The both of them looked at each other hatefully for a moment or two before running back to meet each other again. This time, Zucco approached with both fists raised, but at the last moment surprised Robin and kicked him so hard that Batman's protégé fell back to the ground on his back knocking the wind from his lungs. Zucco sat on him and hit him hard in the head with a huge fist. He was heavy and Robin couldn't shift him. So instead he brought his arms up to guard his head whilst Zucco continued to punch for him.

Robin's arms began to tingle under their assault and he still received several nasty blows to the head, but then Robin's fogged thoughts cleared and he remembered how to deal with this situation. The acrobat grabbed one of Zucco's arms, put the other on Zucco's neck and then pushed his hips up whilst pulling on Zucco's arm and like a charm Zucco rolled away from him. Instead of catching his breath though, Robin followed straight after him and brought up his fists before bringing them down on his head. Zucco was dazed after the first hit and groaned wearily, to avoid Robin's second hit he rolled over. Robin followed him and hit him savagely in the head again and was glad to see that after that he only attempted to pick up his head before falling unconscious.

As soon as Zucco was taken care of, Robin looked through the window he had fallen through a few moments ago and saw just a few henchmen left. The others were working together to take care of the last of them and he could hear the sirens of policemen in the background. It was only when Robin realised that it was over, he had taken care of Zucco and gotten help for Batman, that he could really feel a sense of resolution. He had sense of calm washing over him. Robin rolled back onto the floor and began to really feel his injuries, his neck was definitely bruised and his head was clearly bleeding rather badly. On top of that the arm that had been twisted up his back was either broken or fractured _and_ he had rolled through a whole bunch of glass. But at least he had captured Zucco. He felt like his Mum and Dad, even Batman, could feel at peace knowing that he would be thrown back behind bars soon: and that brought Robin peace.

Robin closed his eyes, feeling weaker and weaker as time passed but remaining awake just in case Zucco woke before the police arrived. It was just as Robin was reminding himself that he must stay awake that he heard Artemis' voice proclaim that she had found him. He was soon surrounded by his team and Green Arrow, each of them looking down at him in concern. Robin's head rolled to the side and he saw Zucco being hauled up by a policeman and a policewoman. He smiled to himself genuinely for the first time in at least a month; it really was over, then.

"Robin? What happened?" Kaldur demanded. On closer inspection he noticed the injuries all over the youngest member of his team. The others had gotten out fine, a little bruised here and there and maybe a few cuts, but Robin had clearly suffered worse. The man he was fighting was either a near match for him, or he was clearly messing with his head too much. To be fair to the kid, he was fighting the man who had ruined his life only five short years ago. When he got no answer from Robin, Kaldur asked, "Are you alright, my friend?"

"I feel – I feel at peace, Kaldur." Robin responded. Kaldur had meant physically, but Robin had given a far more satisfactory answer. If fighting Zucco had made Robin feel at peace with his past, then clearly it was something that he had just had to do. He understood why Robin had been so very angry at Batman the previous day, clearly Robin didn't simply want to help, he had _needed_ to. Green Arrow smiled to himself, the kid was just like his mentor in ideals and beliefs on morality.

"Let's get him to the Watchtower; hopefully Wonder Woman or Aquaman won't be too distracted with Batman to help Robin too." Green Arrow said. That was the last thing that Robin really knew or was aware of happening, either he was completely exhausted and hadn't eaten and drank enough over the past few days or it was the wound on his head: maybe it was all of this combined, but Robin too fell unconscious like his mentor had only an hour or so ago. But he knew he was safe, he knew Batman was safe and he knew Tony Zucco was back behind bars in a cell where he'd never see the day again, where he belonged: so he felt like he could allow himself to sleep at long last.

When he next woke, Robin was in a bed with clean white sheets in a room that had rocky walls and would be cold if not for the blankets piled on top of him. He was in the medical bay back at Happy Harbour. He groaned against the bright lights and the swelling pain in his head, he could smell flowers so he knew M'Gann had been there. He turned his head to the side in an effort to feel the damage to his neck when he remembered the sensation of having the life strangled out of him, but he was surprised when he saw Batman's cowl staring back at him. _Wonder Woman and Aquaman must've put his mask back on after treating him,_ Robin mused to himself. He then reached up and felt that his own mask was also still on, and also his arm was now in a cast. Fantastic.

"How are you?" Batman asked awkwardly. Robin raised his good arm and made a so-so sign at his mentor and then asked the same question of his mentor who returned the gesture. Robin couldn't help but let out a little smile, he could only be glad that Batman was alive and on the mend. Anything he had been frustrated about before was completely disregarded now. Batman then averted his gaze from Robin and took a deep breath, "Listen, I'm sorry about what I did." Batman started. Robin tried to hide the shock on his face, but was hard-pressed to conceal it. Batman rarely shared feelings because Robin knew that he found it uncomfortable, but it seemed Batman kind of wanted a heart to heart.

"You don't have to apologise." Robin replied quickly, feeling his face redden as he remembered how badly he had treated Bruce even though he was just trying to protect him.

"No, I do," Batman interrupted him. Robin silenced himself and decided that this was something that Bruce clearly just needed to get off of his chest. So he just sat back and listened to what he had to say, "I should have told you as soon as I knew about the escape. I knew exactly how you'd feel if I kept it from you but I concealed the truth from you anyway. Then I made you feel betrayed when I told you that I'd take him on myself – failing miserably in the process – and that made you have to take him on yourself. It's my fault that you are here in a hospital bed; I should have allowed you to help me. I shouldn't have lied. I shouldn't have ignored your feelings, I have been terrible to you and I'm so sorry."

Robin felt Batman's eyes land on him again; Robin remembered how angry he had felt. How depressed. But it seemed like a distant memory now, Robin had put all of that behind him and he fully intended on moving on swiftly instead of lingering on those few days – or those few weeks rather. Besides, all of those bad events had eventually lead up to Robin getting to fight Zucco, save his father-figure, and feel a really genuine sense of resolution at last after all of these years. So on reflection, Robin wouldn't have changed any of the events that had happened recently, because they had all lead up to this outcome.

"Don't be sorry. For the first time in five years I can say 'I'll manage' and I can actually mean it. My parents, they would – they would be happy that I've found peace. So, finally, I can be happy too."

**And there you have it. I have finished.**

**I thought to finish the story I would do a super long chapter. I hope the fight scenes were alright, I've never really written a proper fight-scene before... :)**

**I really hope you have enjoyed the story and please leave a review of the whole story or just this chapter and let me know what you thought of it. I'll be a good feeling to click that finished button!**

**Anyways, once again don't forget to vote on the poll for the next story I should write, it's on my profile page and waiting!**

**Once again to all of those in the UK, please check for flood warnings and be careful out there!**** My thoughts go to the families who have been forced out of their homes, or have relatives who have died. I really am sorry.**

**Thank you for reading my story and I hope you join me for my next one, by the looks of the poll so far it's a tie between the story where you send me prompts, or the story where Lex Luthor makes evil versions of the Young Justice team. Exciting stuff.**

**Thanks again,**

**Varishi x**


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